


Larger than Life

by Michelle



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Orphans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-21
Updated: 2006-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29606796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michelle/pseuds/Michelle
Summary: Since Estel cannot remember his father, his imagination runs wild.





	Larger than Life

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Larger Than Life  
> Author: Michelle  
> Email: michelle [at] waking-vision.com  
> Summary: Since Estel cannot remember his father, his imagination runs wild.  
> Timeline: TA 2951, just after Aragorn learns of his true identity.  
> Beta: Lee-Anne  
> Genre: gen, slight angst  
> Rating: K  
> Disclaimer: All the characters belong into Middle Earth. And Middle Earth belongs to Tolkien.  
> Author’s Note: Written for the Middle Earth Express on Aragorn Angst, prompt #3: riddle.

Estel could not remember his father, and yet he was always there – a figure hidden in shadows waiting to be seen.

He must have been about four when he first realized that he was not an elf; that his ada and his brothers could not be related to him. It was then that Estel started to ask questions.

They were never answered. Elrond would adopt a stern look that in itself forbade any further inquiries. His ada would send him off to practice his letters or help tend the herb garden. And when he brought the topic up with his mother she would stare out of the window, to the north, and not speak for days; her face drawn and her eyes sad. So Estel stopped questioning and made up his own answers instead.

His father was a handsome prince, gone on a dangerous quest. He was a dragonslayer, killed by an enormous beast in a battle that lasted three days. He was a king hiding from his many enemies in the wilds. He was a mighty swordsman, saving maidens from danger. He was a wise adviser and well read in lore and legend. He was a good man, like all the heroes in ada’s library. They were people of import, larger than life. Estel’s father was one of them and maybe his story was hidden in one of those old tomes.

Only later did he accept that all of these things seemed highly unlikely. He had never stopped wondering, but he had stopped expecting an answer. And now it was here, sudden and unexpected: the name of his father, his story, his death, his legacy. And Estel’s own life had been turned upside down.

They had given him the Shards of Narsil, the Ring of Barahir, a box of old letters and a sketch his mother had drawn of her husband when they were just wed. Parts of a life, pieces of a puzzle. And he sat down, his new treasure strewn about him, pouring over a riddle he could never hope to solve.

\- The End


End file.
